The statistics arm of the European Union, Eurostat, has released recent figures on energy consumption. They are a huge disappointment and show that the community has only succeeded at wasting hundreds of billions of euros, while having no impact on the climate.

For the money, Europe will contribute theoretically only a very few tenths of degree less warming to the global climate by the year 2100.
Though energy consumption in the EU is below its 1990 level, EU dependency on fossil fuel imports is on the rise:

In 2015, gross inland energy consumption, which reflects the energy quantities necessary to satisfy all inland consumption, amounted in the European Union (EU) to 1,626 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe), below its 1990 level (-2.5%) and down by 11.6% compared to its peak of almost 1,840 Mtoe in 2006.

Accounting for nearly three-quarters of EU consumption of energy in 2015, fossil fuels continued to represent by far the main source of energy, although their weight has constantly decreased over the past decades, from 83% in 1990 to 73% in 2015. However, over this period, EU dependency on imports of fossils fuels has increased, with 73% imported in 2015 compared with just over half (53%) in 1990.

In other words, while in 1990 one tonne of fossil fuels was imported for each tonne produced in the EU, by 2015 three tonnes were imported for each tonne produced.

Based on EU 2012 directives, EU renewable energy share is supposed to be at least 27% of the electric power production 2030. And according to an EU 2014 agreement, greenhouse gas emissions is supposed to be 40 percent less, a target that climate protection activists say is too little!

Though statistics showing considerable greenhouse gas reductions since 1990, the vast majority of it happened right after the shut down of the dilapidated, communist run industries in the first years after the fall of the Iron Curtain. There has been little progress since.

The graph shows a dramatic decrease in use of electricity (from 7000 or even 7500 to about 6000 kWh).

Two important informations are missing:

1. are those with solar using their own electricity or are they exporting it to the grid (and did this behaviour change during this time frame?)

2. How did the type of people change, who use solar during the time frame. (and what type of households does use solar, most likely single homes with a higher demand anyway)

The explanation given (solar PV users are wasting electricity) does not make any sense, as it would mean that they are having more additional use than the solar PV systems produce (they use more, even subtracting the output of the solar PV system).

the best explanation for that weird curve is a simple one: high penetration of solar PV in queensland (about 25%?) means, that all households with a big use (single homes) now have adapted to solar PV, leaving those with little use without solar.

The graph is massively misleading. I am pretty sure that a similar study will show, that households who grow their own vegetables in their garden still buy more vegetables in the supermarket than households who do not grow their own veggies. (they simply eat more of the green stuff).

maybe economising due to rising costs and no solar buffer? maybe over time more efficient lighting and appliances. In my case I have solar but never registered it so my house just looks like consumption has dropped, and whatever is left over they can have.

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